AMPTP Disputes SAG-AFTRA’s “Misleading” Claims About Last Contract Offer Before Strike Began

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Jamie Lee Curtis doesn’t pretend to know when she thinks the SAG-AFTRA strike will end. “I have no idea,” the Oscar winner told me Thursday morning at Project Angel Food’s groundbreaking ceremony for The Chuck Lorre Family Foundation Campus in Los Angeles. However, Curtis says she remains “hopeful” that the actors union and AMPTP can find common ground.” “I’m hopeful that we can all see all sides.

Luc Besson’s DogMan has become one of the first films to receive a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement that will allow talent to do press during the upcoming festival season. Actors will be allowed to promote the pic at its upcoming premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

In the wake of yesterday’s upbeat news that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the WGA are heading back for talks this Friday, SAG-AFTRA’s Duncan Crabtree-Ireland says that as far as actors go, it’s still crickets from the producers.

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher again took aim at the heads of the film and television conglomerates, calling them “greed-driven and disrespectful” and their corporate culture “maniacal” in remarks Tuesday at a rally outside New York City Hall. 

Sarah Silverman isn’t so pissed off any more about the interim agreements that SAG-AFTRA has been handing out, but the comedian is still pretty “cynical” about the whole thing.

EXCLUSIVE: In a move that might well set a precedent for other A-listers, G20 star Viola Davis has become the first to publicly back away from a project for the duration of the actors and writers strikes, even after the film got the SAG-AFTRA interim agreement necessary to start production.

SAG-AFTRA will hold a mass rally in Times Square on Tuesday morning. It’s expected to be the biggest rally in NYC since the strike began on July 14. Celebs scheduled to attend the “Rock the City for a Fair Contract” rally include Bryan Cranston, Steve Buscemi, Christian Slater, Lauren Ambrose, Christine Baranski, Matt Bomer, Tituss Burgess, Liza Colón-Zayas, Gregory Diaz, Jennifer Ehle, Nancy Giles, Danai Gurrira, Jill Hennessy, Marin Hinkle, Stephen Lang, Arian Moayed, Wendell Pierce, Corey Stoll and Merritt Wever.

SAG-AFTRA has granted more waivers in recent days that give permission to indie projects to shoot during the current strike, including the independent film The Summer Book starring Glenn Close. Other recent projects that will be allowed to shoot include the TV series Underdeveloped and Sight Unseen.

EXCLUSIVE: Tobias Menzies was hiding in plain sight at a rally held by UK actors union Equity in support of its sister union SAG-AFTRA.

EXCLUSIVE: For those awards strategists wondering whether stars from indie U.S. films can promote at the fall film festival troika, SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland says “We’re looking at that issue.”

Following SAG-AFTRA’s clearance of AppleTV+’s Israeli spy series Tehran and New Line’s horror movie Watchers –prolific projects from AMPTP studios that the guild remains in talks with– in their interim agreement process, some producers and filmmakers in town have been miffed.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The group that bargains on behalf of the studios issued a point-by-point response on Friday to SAG-AFTRA, arguing that the union walked away from a deal with more than $1 billion in additional wages, residuals and pension and health contributions. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers also argued that it has accepted the union’s demand for “informed consent” on the use of artificial intelligence — which has become one of the major issues in the week-old strike. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the union’s top negotiator, alleged on July 13 that the studios want to scan background actors and replicate their likenesses “for the rest of eternity” without consent. The AMPTP has adamantly said that is false, and that its proposal includes both consent and compensation.

EXCLUSIVE: SAG-AFTRA national executive director and chief negotiator is weighing on AMPTP’s just-released statement that rebuts the guild’s recent claims about the studios’ final offer before the strike.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor There was a large crowd in the room when SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood’s major studios and streamers formally began contract bargaining negotiations on June 7. About 80 participants from both the labor and management sides gathered at the Sherman Oaks headquarters of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers for the first day of what everyone knew would be a difficult negotiation for the performers union, which has been on strike since July 13. One big presence in the negotiations process who was not there in person on Day One was Fran Drescher, president of SAG-AFTRA. But Drescher had no trouble making herself heard that day. She addressed the gathering via video conference call from Paris – and she definitely got management’s attention.

EXCLUSIVE: The Working Families Party is the latest organization to show support to striking writers and actors with a message for the studios.

Editor’s note: Almost a week into the first joint strike by the actors union and the writers guild since 1960, there are picket lines all over LA and NYC. Yet there are no new negotiations planned between SAG-AFTRA or the WGA and the studios and streamers. Despite the silence and divisions between the parties, SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland insists that a pathway to a new contract and a better future for all is possible.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood’s largest employers are sparring over the terms of the offer that SAG-AFTRA rejected before the union went on strike last week. SAG-AFTRA issued a detailed statement outlining its objections to the deal presented last week after weeks of bargaining with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The AMPTP countered late with a statement that accused the union of trying to “deliberately distort” the terms of the employers’ offer. SAG-AFTRA opened its statement to members by declaring that the union is fighting “against a system where those in charge of multibillion-dollar media conglomerates are rewarded for exploiting workers.” SAG-AFTRA called a strike against AMPTP companies on July 12. The Writers Guild of America has been on strike since May 2.

Ahead of the recent breakdown of contract negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, Tom Cruise spoke with reps for both parties about issues like AI and project promotion, as well as a few concerning stunt professionals, Deadline has confirmed.

After AMPTP called their AI proposal to SAG-AFTRA yesterday “groundbreaking”, the actors’ union National Executive Director and chief negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, still begs to differ.

The 11th installment of Deadline Strike Talk with Billy Ray lands at the close of another seismic week in the Hollywood labor battle.